Slicing machine



G. R. WOOD SLICING MACHINE Sept. 4, 1934.

Original Filed Jan. 2 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l l-Illilll ww m 3 mm r lllilllllillll 7 se i. 4, 1934. G, R, WOOD 1,972,254

SLIC ING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 22, .1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR d/d .M

BY ATTORNEY Sept. 4, 1934. G R WOOD 1,972,254

' SLIGING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 22. 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG].

S g \\\\\\\\\\\\\\l l l l IIIIIIIII INVENTOR fl" ATTORNEY MIQZQ Patented Sept. 4, 1934 it S LICING MACHINE George R. Wood; Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assigner, by mesne assignments, to International Business Machines Corporation, N. Y.', a corporation of New York New York,

Original application January ZZ; 1930} Serial No.

422,564. Divided and this application ber30, 1934), Serial No. 505.417

Decem- 5 Claims. (01'. 14 -402) This case is a division of application SerialNo. 422,564, filed by me January 22,1930.

The object of the invention in generalis to improve the feeding means of a slicing machine."

More specifically the object is to provide a novel manual meansforfeeding an article transversely of and parallel to the plane of the knife.

Various other objects and advantages of my invention will be obvious from the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying the invention or from an inspection of the accompanying drawings; and the invention also constitutes certain newand novel features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a view of the slicer from the feeding side of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a rear View of the article vice of the slicer.

Fig. 3 is a section on' line 3+-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section of one half of the clutch means of the feeding device.v

Fig. 5 is'a detail of some of the clutch ,eleme ts of the feeding device; p

Fig. 6 is a detail of the'lower guide means of the carriage, and

Fig. '7 is a detail of the clamp of the feeding carriage.

In detail, the slicing machine comprises a base 10 in which are mounted the-motor l1 and knife housing 12. The motor 11. drives the knife through a belt 13 riding on a pulleyl4'connected to the knife 15. The front of the. knife is covered by a guard plate 16 parallel .to the plane of the gage plate 1'7. Both the guard plate and gage plate are covered by and partially supported by a framepiece 18connected to thehousing 12. .The base carries-at opposite ends vertical posts 20 supporting a round rail 21 extending parallel to the plane of the gage plate'and lying above a fiat rail 22 supported directly on the base 10. The rails 21 feeding deand 22 guide a feeding carriage 25 for movement parallel to the plane of the gage plate and'cover plate. The carriage comprises a castingthrough which is an opening 26receiving the rail 21. A central depending extension or bracket 27 of the carriage terminatesat its lower end in anoffset portion 28 (see FigsQZ'andaG) having a recess 29 in which is journalled a roller- 30. The roller rides against one side of the flat rail 22. Fixed to bracket 31 opposite the offset portion 28 .is a plate 32 in which is threaded a screw 33 adapted to contact the other side'of the flat rail 22. Carriage 25 may be consideredas pivotally mounted on round rail 21. The weight of the carriage is distributed so that roller normally presses end of sleeve 48 and knob against rail 22 'while screw.33'is slightly spaced therefrom. .The screwlimits the pivotal motion .1:

of the carriage on rail 21 butordinarilydoes not contact therail 22.: Thisarrangement combines with the rolling contactbetweenrail 22 and roller 30 to provide a smooth frictionless sliding action for the carriage; To cushion the'shock of engagement with posts 20 at either end of its stroke, the carriage is-formed with depending ears 34 facedvwith rubber or felt bumpers '35. .The upper. portion of the carriage'is formed withanangular'seat or tray portion 36 for receiving the: article. Depending from I the horizontal side 37 of this seat (as viewed .in Fig. 3) isa bearing lug 38in which is'journalled one end of ashaft 39'."Adjacent-its' other-end, the

shaft is journalled in the-lug 40 depending from an angular bracket 41 secured to the outside corner of angular seat 36. The shaft, rigidly carries a'handle 42 at one end and a three pronged clutch element43' at the other end (see Fig; 5)

At the left side of the clutch element as viewed in'Figs. 3 and 4 is a gear 44freely rotatably mounted on shaft '39. Rigidly secured' to the right side of gear 44 is a collar 45'surrounding clutch element i 43. The outer circumferential edge of collar 45 is notched to receive a-plate-46 keyed to shaft 39, as shown in Fig. 4. Between the plate 46'and the clutch element 43 is a spacing washer 4'7. Abutting the other sideof the plate46 is a sleeve 48 also keyed to shaft 39. Rotatably carried'by sleeve 48 is a knob 49 which is provided with three prongs-50the ends of which are adapted to enter holes 51 in plate 46. The end of shaft393is internally threaded to receive a screw 52 the head of which engagesthe outer sliding oifthe shaft. Y

I Referring to Fig: 5; the clutch element'43 has three prongs 53 the'tipsof which ride on the inside periphery of *the collar 45; The portion of the clutch element between successive prongs is formed as a cam surface 54 between which and the inside periphery of the collar is'a ball'55 urged by a spring 56.;to move toward the narrower part of the space between the collar and thecam surface 54. Thus-balls, 55.normally clutch the element 43 tightly to thecollar 45 so that the gear 44v connected tothe collar is constrained to move with shaft 39 when the latter rocks counterclockwise as viewed in Figs-2 and 5.

When the shaft is'rocked in the opposite direc tion, it does not. affect gear 44 as the wider spaces between the cam surface 54 and-collar 45 are shifted to positions over the balls 55. The balls 55 may be, cammed at will to releasing-position by moving knob 49 inward, prongs 50 en- 49 to keep them from gaging and camming the balls towards the smaller ends of the cam surfaces 54. In mesh with gear 44 is a pinion 58 also carried by bracket 41 and in mesh with the pinion 58 is a rack 59 slidably guided between horizontal flanges 60 integral with bracket 41.

Secured by screws 61 to the rack 59 is a clamp carrying member 62 integrally formed with an car 63 slidable on a rail 64 and with a sleeve 65 slidable on a rail 66, both;rails being fixed only at one end to the carriage leaving the clamp assembly free to be removed when desired. Sleeve 65 is formed with upstanding lugs 67 for rotatably carrying a removable rod 68 adapted to freely seat inside a sleeve 69 formed at one end of an arm '70 having at its other end a sleeve 71 (see Figs. 3 and '7). is a rod '72 having a flat disk portion at the inner end which is fastened to a clamp plate 73. The outer end of rod '72 carries a washer '74 in engagement withthe adjacent end of sleeve '71. Between the head of a screw '75 threaded into the end of rod '72 and the washer '74 is located a spring washer 76 so that by adjustment of the screw more or less frictional pressure may be provided between the washer and the outer to be frictionally retained in any set position relative to thesleeve. v

The clamp plate '73 is provided with prongs or spikes on two faces thereof .one face beinghorizontal and adapted to coact withithe spiked face of 'a sheet metal member '78 fixed to member 62 by hand screws '79. The vertical face 80 is adapted to serve as a pusher plate for feeding the article towards the gage plate.

Beneath sheet metal member 78 the angular seat'36 of the carriage supports a porcelain tray 81 not movable with the clamp carrying member as is member '78.

In the operation of slicing an article, the horizontal face of 'clamp '73 is pressed down on the article resting on the sheet metal member '78 and disposed over the porcelain tray 81. After adjusting the gage plate to the desired thickness of slice,

the operator grasps handle 42 and rocks it toward the gage plate at the same time moving it away from him to feed the carriage past the knife. The rocking of the handle towards the gage plate operates through shaft 39 to rotate clutch element 43 counterclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 5, thus causing balls 55 to rotate sleeve 45 and through gearing 44, 58 and 59 provided between the shaft'and the clamp carrier 62 to move the latter towards the gage plate and press the article clamped on the carriage into contact with the gage plate. The rocking movement of handle 42 is limited by lugs 83 engaging the under surface of carriage side 3'7. As the operator rocks the'handle towards the gage'plate, thereby moving the article into contact with said plate, he may simultaneously or shortly after, by means of the same handle push the carriage towards the knife which thereby is enabled to cut a slice from the article. Upon returning the carriage, the operator need not rock the handle in either direction. If he rocks it away from the gage plate, there is no corresponding movement of the clamp and the'articlegripped thereby due to the one-way action of the clutch means. The operator may by repeatedly rocking forth feed the article to the Journalled in-sleeve '71 engaging and camming the balls toward the wider space between surfaces 54 and sleeve 49. The clamp is now free to return to the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, independently of the shaft 39.

The operation of the feeding means for the slicing machine is believed clear from the above description and'it will be understood that modifications and variations may be made within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. I therefore wish to be limited only by. the following claims:

What is claimed is,

1. In a slicing machine, a knife, a carriage for holding an article for slicing by the knife and movable past .the cutting edge of the knife, an article feeding device on the carriage movable towards the knife, driving mechanism for said device, and a handle mounted on the carriage and connected to the latter to move it past the cutting edge by applying force thereto in the direction of movement of the carriage and permitted by said connection to move relatively to the carriage and to the article feeding device in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the carriage, and connections between said handle and said driving mechanism for actuating said driving mechanism and said feeding device by and upon said transverse movement of the handle.

2. The invention according to claim 1, said transverse movement of said handle being at right angles to the direction of movement of the carriage whereby force applied toIsaid handle for moving the carriage alone lacks any component force tending to .actuate said driving mechanism.

3. The invention according to claim 1, said handle being so mounted on the carriage as to prevent relative movement between them in a direction having any component parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage and permitted by said mounting to move relative to the carriage only insaid transverse direction with the latter occurring at right angles to the direction of movement of the carriage.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1, said handle being movable to-and-fro in said transverse direction, said driving mechanism comprising gearing connected to the article feeding device, and the connections between said handle and driving mechanism comprising a one-way drive for operating the gearing only in one direction the carriage and pivotally mounted on the, car riage, and connections between the handle and clamping means effective by and upon pivotal movementof the handle on its mounting for moving the latter and the supplementary support transversely of the abutment plate to hold the article against the plate during the slicing operation.

, GEORGE R. WOOD. 

